Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae - Stellar Cannibals Lead To Blue Stragglers In Space

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - 13:49 in Astronomy & Space

Researchers have discovered that the mysterious overweight stars known as blue stragglers are the result of 'stellar cannibalism', where plasma is gradually pulled from one star to another to form a massive, unusually hot star that appears younger than it is. The process takes place in binary stars ­ star systems consisting of two stars orbiting around their common centre of mass. This helps to resolve a long standing mystery in stellar evolution. read more

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